Tuesday, March 20, 2012

A sideways trek into 8 Track land

Well, I thought I'd given up collecting them.. but I couldn't resist here..
It's astonishing what some sellers are charging for them.. in average condition sometimes over 30$ (admittedly for rare ones) and let's face it..aint NOBODY anymore sells ones in THIS condition
I only paid an average of 2$ apiece though for these , and in far far better condition.. I normally wouldn't take them even for free, even if they're extremely rare unless they're near mint.., frankly, it's only *because* of the condition that I bought them (except for the TYA, it's a contribution...)
The ones I see for sale at 25 $ to 30$ are *not* even in this kind of shape though either..

(Update.. may 28th
I thought I had scanned them all, but apparently not.. so some new ones here)
A nice Fleetwood Mac blues era cartridge..

Although it's not THAT hard to find Ummagumma on 8Track, it's not so easy these days either:

A "White apple" Abbey Road .. a first issue, just like the cassettes, missing "Her Majesty!)

A first issue of Alvin Lee and Company..

A bit of a note comparing cassettes to 8 tracks..although cassettes can suffer serious sound issues, if too old, at the end of the day, cassettes *are* playable, or should be.. even if it's not always the case, but however, 8 Track Cartridges are atrocious...

I know a little bit about early Fleetwood Mac, however, so I knew just how few of these were actually made, when I ran across them..

Both Future Games and Kiln house, were modest sellers.. meaning that initially, they might only sell 50,000 units, but that's *vinyl*, as it was still King in the early 70's and tape only accounted for a percentage.. mostly 8 track too..so assume maybe 10, 000 units of 8 track cartridges, and 1000 cassettes.

Now, these are first issues also, as they were distributed by Kinney Music in Canada, so that these are part of the *north american * run of 10, 000.. but, being Canadian, there were only 1000 made.

Of that 1000, how many do you think are still in pristine condition?

NOW you know why I picked them up. They are *mint*....

Here's some Elvis I ised to have, but no longer.. they were in the boot of my car when it got scooped..

And. a new one. it's Soooo rare it's almost a joke...

The small faces... on MGM... (how they got the rights to Decca's stuff, back in 1968, i can't even guess...)

OH apparently the rights were contested, by someone or other.. so they played it safe and just pulled the album right after it came out..

Soo, just how many are out there? at least a couple dozen ;-)

And wow.. here's a recent find.. I have NEVER seen this on eight track cartridge before (or cassette either, come to think of it)... Furthermore, before the internet (and before Castle became the great UK artists reissue label), this was the ONLY way to get to hear the first two Humble Pie albums.. in North America, anyways .. OK in Canada we also had Daffodil Records.. which put out the immediate catalog complete with these gorgeous silver and gold covers.. I used to collect them too.. and nearly had the full set, including the first two Humble Pie LPs.. MINT... as they came out on Immediate (now there's a hip label, and a sad story, for y'all...!)

And.. although i *really* try to avoid these things, every so often I surrendered to the "OMG it's just so frikkin' RARE" bug, so....here's the rest of the ones i *used* to have, I can't remember if they were in
the trunk of my car that got impounded ("honest officer, if i'd a knowed they was gonna use my car as a getaway car for a meat robbery I'd have asked for steak tartar").. or if something else happened to them.. but I don't have them anymore...

And aw.. man what are the chances of EVER seeing another of THIS?.... Wonderwall Music, By George Harrison on 8TRACK!.. wow..

I used to have the cassette version of this also.. the premier beatles collecting site on the web, says this never came out on cassette or 8 track.. see here , otherwise, for yourself...

Here's another Duane 8 Track.. Not all that common, although if you run into any of his albums on 8 track, you're more likely to find this than any other:

Here's an addition to my John Mayall collection.. I got this one for 25 cents down the road!

Here's one I cant remember where I got it.. but it's by far, my favorite Savoy Brown album, still, after all these years:

And, a last note for the advent of Summer... roll down the windows, let the heat wash over ya, and stick this in the car player!

Here's a super rare tape.. the original "Let It Be" on the ART (ABKCO/Apple) label..

These didn't hang around long.. the cassettes , (the ones that came in a cardboard box) were even more common than the 8 tracks, at least for this album..they were soon out of print, and a few years later reissued by Apple/EMI (or Capitol, in the states)

Yup,, actually, you'd be surprised how many pirate copies of 8 tracks existed in the 70's.. Most are pretty easy to spot.. as they oftemn aren't counterfeits (that is, made to look the same) but shoddy facsimiles with lousy covers on something like "247" label, or "Music Sound Records"!

My Copyright notice (IMPORTANT!!!!!)

The original copyrights in these cover designs continue to be owned by whoever designed them.. However by posting photos and scans of them here for informational and entertainment uses only, I claim the actual intent of "Fair Use' rights.

However, I add this on my own..

You may use these for any private purpose you see fit, but

YOU MAY NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES WHATSOEVER USE THESE SCANS FOR ANY COMMERCIAL PURPOSE WHAT SO EVER!!

That means NO copying and posting on Ebay, or any other commercial website, to 'represent' the item you're too lazy or dishonest to scan or photograph for yourself..

If i ever find you have been using my scans to represent your items on any sales website WHATSOEVER.. i will IMMEDIATELY report you.

That also means no copying these scans to assist in creating 'Fake' cassettes either, for any commercial sale.

I WILL REPORT YOU!

Collecting is tricky enough without theives and liars getting into the mix...

And i look LONG and HARD to find ones in condition as good as these are to display..

Thank you for your time..

Doc

About Me

Depending on which of my blogs this is applying to..I am a Guitar player, Bassist, violinist, drummer, arranger, producer, engineer, etc etc .. have recorded 13 demos , played on 16 albums that have been issued, on 11 that have not, have no F##ing money, I Have been collecting cassettes for over 30 years.. although I have recently had to start over due to a fire.
Here are the sleeves of the tapes I currently have in my collection, as well as old ones I managed to scan before I lost them...all in Hi Resolution!
Some are so rare that there are no references of any kind to them.. they may be the only surviving copies left..!
Enjoy!
And PS.. I am always open to trades, or parting with a couple of them also..

Pages

Current Silver Value

What cassette I'm ripping (or listening to) right now

B.B. King.. ALL the 40 year old STEREO United cassettes.. WOW!

Why Collect Cassettes?

Indeed? Nobody usually knows why they've got "The Bug"..

But.. look at it this way, Collectors are, firstly, Historians, guardians of an eras' culture .. and if the pieces of history one collects have artistic value, and even functionality.. this is where it all comes together..

Happy hunting!

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